Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Chavez Will Cave In

The Spanish justice intends to issue arrest warrants for members of the Basque armed separatist organization ETA living abroad and is assessing 26 files of members allegedly living in Venezuela.

The goal is "determining, on a case-by-case basis, how many of these terrorists may be detained to serve their time in Spain, even if they have obtained the nationality of the country where they are living," said sources with the Spanish Attorney General Office, as quoted by AFP.

Further, the Spanish authorities are aiming particularly at "13 historic members" of the terrorist group.

They are involved in pending cases related to the murders of guards and civilians dating back to the eighties.

Spain is determining their whereabouts to issue European arrest warrants, demand their delivery -if they are in France-, and seek their extradition -if they are in South America.

Two of those 13 major members were arrested recently in France.

Spain does not need to investigate, they know they are there because years ago Madrid itself asked Caracas to admit former ETA militants as political refugees or exiles, whatever it is that they call them.

With this move Madrid steps up the repression of the Basque nationalists, must of the political refugees that the article mentions are there as part of past negotiations and truces. So this is what will happen next, when Spain demands the extraditions from Venezuela, and despite Hugo Chavez's recent show down with Juan Carlos Borbón, he will proceed to extradite as many Basques as he can put his hands on because he is not all what he claims to be.

The irony is that Simon Bolivar who he admires so much was a Basque descendant.